De la Porte takes over Delhi boys basketball program

The ink on his contract is still wet, but the truth is Brian de la Porte has been preparing for the role of boys basketball coach at Delhi High School for a while.

De la Porte was officially named the Hawks’ varsity coach Monday, replacing Eugene Drummond after three seasons. De la Porte made the announcement on Twitter, and Vice Principal Brett Nickelson confirmed the hiring. That completed a courtship that began with summer scouting and campus recruiting at the onset of the school year.

“I still need to evaluate a lot of things, but I know one of my personal goals is to grow the program,” said de la Porte, who teaches physical education at the school. “They had freshman and sophomore teams, but the numbers were low. I want 12 to 14 kids at every level. That’s the big goal.

“I’ve been recruiting my P.E. classes and talking to kids. Culturally, I’m just trying to field full teams at every level. All good programs have that (kind of participation).”

De la Porte had a chance to meet some of his players this summer. He’s impressed with the amount of athleticism and height on a campus of about 750 students.

“There are some big dudes on that campus,” de la Porte said. “I’ve been surprised. We have some good-sized kids here.”

De la Porte has bounced around the Stanislaus District, producing winning seasons at each stop. He spent five seasons at Ceres, playing in a gymnasium named after his father, Phil de la Porte, a retired athletic director and coach. The Bulldogs won the Western Athletic Conference title in 2011 – Brian de la Porte’s only league championship.

He spent the last two seasons in Patterson, where he led the Tigers to back-to-back Sac-Joaquin Section Division III postseason appearances. Patterson was 17-12 last winter and reached the second round.

De la Porte announced his resignation in February and remained on campus through the school year. He has a career record of 92-97.

Delhi represents a fresh start in a league he knows next to nothing about. That becomes his biggest challenge as the season nears – knowing thine enemy.

Mariposa (12-0) ran away with the Southern League title, but the Grizzlies were pushed by runner-up Delhi (8-4) in their regular-season finale, 52-47. Le Grand and Gustine tied for third at 6-6. Mariposa, Delhi and Le Grand qualified for the postseason.

“I really don’t know a lot about the Southern League. Mariposa is good every year. I’ve seen Orestimba before, but I look forward to spending my December getting acquainted with them,” de la Porte said. “It’s going to be a learning experience. I’m sure it’s still good basketball. My only real adjustment is getting familiar with league opponents.”

Talent shouldn’t be much of a problem. He inherits a program that has won at least 13 games in four consecutive seasons. The Hawks were chased out of the Division IV section tournament by San Juan, 80-48, but they entered the offseason optimistic.

Delhi graduated only one senior – captain Dallas Gregor – from a roster that features six sophomores and five juniors.

De la Porte will attempt to fit that experience into a proven style, one borrowed from an old adversary.

The Hawks will run the University of the Pacific offense crafted by former coach Bob Thomason and parlayed into a decade of success by his son, Scott Thomason, at Sierra. The Timberwolves have won 20 or more games in nine of the last 11 years, including a 31-win season in 2014-15 that culminated with a Division III section banner and CIF Northern California Regional appearance.

De la Porte believes he has the size to set a similar foundation. The 2014 roster featured 12 guards, the tallest of which were captain Jose Cruz, Dominic Alvarez and Chance Browning, each 6 foot 2.

De la Porte also pointed to the football team, which may provide a few low-post bullies.

“(The offense) will put a huge emphasis in getting the ball into the post. It’s a ground-and-pound version, like football,” he said. “I’ve always liked to get the ball inside, and that offense has a lot of good concepts. That’s the No. 1 part, but the second part is that you can control it as a coach. You can get shots for kids. There are a lot of set plays.”

De la Porte and the younger Thomason used to clash when Ceres was a member of the Valley Oak League. It wasn’t until Ceres was realigned in the Western Athletic Conference that Thomason let de la Porte pick his brain. De la Porte won his only title with that offensive philosophy.

“After we left the VOL, I met with Scott and he helped me out and answered every question I had,” he said. “He’s pretty open … as long as you’re not in his league.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 7:44 PM with the headline "De la Porte takes over Delhi boys basketball program."